“Because you were still at Hildie’s in bed,” Rhys pointed out.
“Well, I like to leave them satisfied, brother,” Lee shot back. “Sometimes that takes long into the night.”
I looked to Dev and Danny. “You’re really leaving me with them? You know they greatly resemble the two of you, right?”
Danny grinned, one of those sunny smiles he rarely graces us with. When he smiled and his dimples showed, I knew he was genuinely happy with the world. “That’s how we know you’ll be safe. Take care, sons. And don’t eat all of your mother’s breakfast. Remember, she’s pregnant.”
Lee groaned. “I was trying to forget that part.” He frowned. “Not that I’m unhappy about another sibling. I’m thrilled. We can do better this time. We’ll take all the mistakes you made with Rhys and do the opposite.”
“Yes, I’m the troublesome one.” Rhys reached a hand out to Daniel. “I promise I’ll protect Mom. You don’t have to worry, sir.”
“Oh, I’m going to worry about that sir a lot.” But Danny shook his hand. “I’ll worry about it until you remember I’m your father, not merely your king.”
“You’re both, Dad. I have to remember that at all times,” Rhys said solemnly.
Danny glanced over at me, and I gave him my best “see, I told you time traveling back to save our kids from years on the run is the best way” look.
Danny and Dev left, promising to be home shortly after nightfall.
Rhys and Lee began to argue while Neil did his best to eat what Lee didn’t.
It was going to be a long day.
* * * *
The portal turned out to be a door that led to a hallway that led to another unassuming door that opened into the back of a small shop.
The scent of old books and leather surrounded me as I walked in behind Rhys. The room I found myself in was illuminated only by a single light, throwing shadows all over and leaving most of it in gloom. It was a big change because we’d come through a long, well-lit hallway. It had been odd to go from the mountain trappings of Frelsi to that super-clean industrial-looking passage and then into this gloomy room.
Of course, that corridor that had taken roughly thirty seconds to traverse had taken us hundreds of miles from where we’d started.
Sometimes magic was fun.
“The hallway is there in case anyone ever tries to follow us through. According to the Fae who built it, originally it was door to door, but when we showed up, they decided to put a layer of security in. We can trap any interlopers in the hall,” Rhys explained. “It’s also why I needed a drop of blood to let the door know you’re okay. It will work for you from now on. If you’re ever chased, make sure to close it behind you so no one can get in.”
“Has this ever happened?” I hated the thought of them running for their lives, getting to the door first being the only way to stay alive.
“Only a couple of times, and it’s always fun to trap the bad guy,” Lee offered with that devil-may-care grin of his. “At first they try to open the door to Frelsi, and then run back here and try to go through that door and find out it’s locked, too. They yell a lot at that point and after a couple of days they start to beg. Fun times.”
I didn’t need to know about all of his hobbies. I definitely didn’t need to know what they’d done to whoever had gotten trapped. “Is this a bookstore?”
We were a small party, and Shahidi and I were the only women. She was dressed for the cold in a winter-white parka over her jeans and sweater. She’d offered me her extra pair of warm boots, and I was grateful for them because even though we were inside, I could feel the chill. It reminded me how warm it was in Frelsi, how the Fae magic kept us safe from many things that might hurt us.
“Yes.” Shy followed me through. “Though this is the back of the store where they keep the books on magic and the arcane artifacts. It’s run by elves passing as humans. They have a perfectly normal-looking bookstore as a front. They live in Frelsi when they don’t have the shop open.”
It was how many of our citizens lived if they could pass for human. They had one foot in the human world and one in the supernatural. They had jobs or businesses that outwardly catered to humans, with hidden places for their supernatural brethren. I glanced around at the high shelves as I followed Rhys. There were books and jars and little boxes that might bite if one tried to open them. I’d learned not to open things in magical shops. It often went wrong.